Exploring Chapter 1 in the Book of Numbers
On May 28, 2026, I offered Tikvah Through Text through Laasok: the Liberal Beit Midrash and chose to unpack the 12th chapter of the Book of Numbers, which is the final chapter in this week’s Torah portion, Beha’alotecha. This chapter is a multi-layered, complex series of interwoven episodes involving Miriam, Moses and Aaron. This text invites us to ask deep questions about the role of a leader, the way in which challenges to leadership are held or not, and how we might unearth some subversiveness woven like a thread through the Torah’s dominant narrative.
We spoke about wise speech, patriarchy, lost women’s wisdom and the desire to reclaim it, Miriam’s critical role as a prophetess and leader in her own right, and how the Torah seemingly weaves together multiple strands of potentially competing narratives. This textual interweaving opens up possibilities for a multitude of readings and leaves for us to interpret some important ambiguity.
Shabbat shalom!
Rabbi Lauren Tuchman 